{"id":246181,"date":"2021-09-02T08:11:54","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T13:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=246181"},"modified":"2023-01-31T23:44:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T22:44:31","slug":"iran-who-is-mohsen-rezaei-ebrahim-raisis-vice-president-for-economic-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/publications\/special-reports\/iran-who-is-mohsen-rezaei-ebrahim-raisis-vice-president-for-economic-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Who Is Mohsen Rezaei, Ebrahim Raisi\u2019s Vice President for Economic Affairs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mohsen-rezaei-irgc-commander\"<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h3>\n

The Iranian regime\u2019s new president Ebrahim Raisi appointed Mohsen Rezaei<\/a> as vice president for economic affairs, secretary of the Supreme Council of Economic Coordination, and secretary of the administration\u2019s Economic Headquarters.<\/p>\n

Rezaei is the first commander of the regime\u2019s notorious Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). He is best known for sending thousands of Iranian children to minefields during the Iran-Iraq war and for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.<\/p>\n

Before becoming Raisi\u2019s vice-president, Rezaei served as a\u00a0member and secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council since 199<\/a>7. He has run for president several times but has never been selected by the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n

His prior statements on economic affairs suggest that his role in the Raisi administration will include promoting terrorism as a means of securing the regime\u2019s interests. In June 2015, while world powers were finalizing the Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Rezaei threatened the US in a way that highlighted the regime\u2019s reliance on hostage-taking as a source of revenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Americans want to have a bad eye on Iran and think of a military strike, they can be sure that we will capture at least 1,000 Americans in the first week, and then they will have to pay billions of dollars to free each of them. Then our economic problem may be solved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rezaie has also promoted a ridiculous plan to improve Iran\u2019s economy by simply declaring that the value of Iran\u2019s inflation-damaged national currency is equivalent to the dollar and euro. Meanwhile, he has helped the IRGC to continue turning a tidy profit during the inflation crisis by serving as commander of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Headquarters, the conglomerate that forms the center of the IRGC\u2019s financial empire, which reportedly accounts for the vast majority of Iran\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n

On January 10, 2020, the US Department of the Treasury placed Rezaei on its sanctions list for his role in \u201cadvancing the regime\u2019s destabilizing objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the positions Rezaei has held in the regime include:<\/p>\n